Thanks Mom! Donor Drive -- Join the Registry to Help Other Patients Seeking Donors

Susan Butcher, Iditarod Champ, Prepares for Transplant

Susan Butcher has won the 1,100-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race four times and competed in it 17 times. She once fought off a 2,000-pound moose with an axe to save both her sled dogs and herself. She battled challenges with fertility to become the mother of two girls, Chisana, age five, and Tekla, age 10. And today she is fighting leukemia.
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Susan was diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia in early December 2005. For three years before that, she had been receiving treatment for a rare bone marrow disorder called polycythemia vera. Sometimes, the disorder develops into an aggressive form of leukemia, and that is what happened to Susan. After her diagnosis, Susan began treatment with chemotherapy, but her doctors told her that was just the first step. Her only hope for a cure is a bone marrow transplant, planned to take place this month (May 2006).

Susan is determined to survive. She would like to go back to dog mushing and maybe compete in other dog sled races. And far more urgently, she wants to be with Tekla and Chisana as they grow up. Susan is used to doing things for herself, but to be there for her daughters, she must rely on a stranger. The marrow for her transplant will be donated by someone Susan has never met, a volunteer who joined the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) Registry for the chance to save a life.

As a mom, Susan knows how precious life is, and she has been active in encouraging others, especially Alaska Natives, to join the Registry. Her efforts drew more than 1,100 Alaskans to join the Registry at a December 30th donor drive, the largest turnout for a donor drive in the history of the Blood Bank of Alaska.

Still, thousands of other patients are searching for donors. You could be the one a patient needs. This Mother’s Day weekend, the nationwide Thanks Mom! Marrow Donor Drive will offer individuals the opportunity to join the NMDP Registry at more than 100 sites around the country. Consider joining the Registry and offering the gift of life to someone else. It’s one way you can say Thanks Mom! to your mother for the life she gave you.

• To find out more about becoming a donor, see Join the Registry.
• To learn more about Susan Butcher’s story, visit www.susanbutcher.com.